WTEM
Encyclopedia
WTEM — branded ESPN 980 — is a sports radio station
licensed to Washington, D.C.
and serving the Washington metro area
. It is the flagship of a sports talk trimulcast with WWXT in Prince Frederick, Maryland
and WWXX in Buckland, Virginia
, all affiliated with ESPN Radio
and owned by Red Zebra Broadcasting
.
Prior to July 21, 2008, WTEM was known as SportsTalk 980, used the slogan The Voice of the Fan, and was the DC outlet for Fox Sports Radio
. Beforehand, WTEM was the Washington, DC affiliate for ESPN Radio before Red Zebra Broadcasting acquired the rights for its Triple X ESPN Radio trimulcast, which ended up merging with WTEM.
ESPN 980 is the home of The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin
and Steve Czaban
, The Tony Kornheiser Show
, The Doc Walker
Show and The John Thompson
Show.
WTEM is also the flagship radio station for Washington Redskins
football (as Red Zebra is operated by Redskins owner Daniel Snyder
) and Georgetown Hoyas
basketball. "ESPN 980" airs Maryland Terrapins
football & basketball and Baltimore Orioles
baseball as an affiliate station.
WTEM's studios are located in Rockville, Maryland
, and its transmitter is located in Hyattsville, Maryland
. It operates with 50,000 watts power during the day and 5,000 watts power at night. The signal can be heard weakly but clearly as far west as Clarksburg, West Virginia
, and as far south as Richmond, Virginia
in daytime. The FM stations both broadcast below 3,000 watts and mainly serve to fill in the gaps in WTEM's coverage.
When RCA launched the National Broadcasting Company radio networks in 1927, WRC was assigned to the Red Network
. NBC's other radio chain, the Blue Network
, had no affiliate in the national capital city until RCA entered into a lease agreement with WMAL in 1933. WRC and WMAL would become de-facto sister station
s during the lease term, which ran for eight years. WRC moved its frequency to 950 AM in 1928, and then shifted to 980 AM in 1941 as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
. With WRC as its cornerstone, RCA/NBC later birthed WNBW television (channel 4, now WRC-TV
) in 1947, and WRC-FM (93.9 MHz, now WKYS
).
WRC carried Willard Scott
and Ed Walker
as the Joy Boys
from 1955 to 1972, and carried the Monitor
radio program on weekends. From 1972 to 1975, WRC broadcast a Top 40 format (it was one of the Greaseman's early radio stops) and was known as the Great 98.
The station switched to NBC News and Information Service programming from 1975 to 1977; and after the demise of NIS, the station aired an all-news format before switching to news-talk in 1979. The talk programming included the first pairing of Pat Buchanan
and Tom Braden who became the original hosts of CNN
's Crossfire
, as well as satirist Mort Sahl
, psychologist Karen Shanor and former Philadelphia talk-show host Jerry Williams. Jack Donniger hosted an evening sports-talk show.
The AM's former Top 40 format was moved to the FM side and later evolved into a disco
-pop dance music format in the late 1970s as Kiss FM, which evolved to that station's current Urban format.
WRC was purchased by Greater Media
in 1984 and the call sign was changed to WWRC, as NBC retained the rights to the original call sign for WRC-TV. During the early 1990s, WWRC was the talk show home to current and formerly notable personalities such as Joe Madison
, Mark Davis
and Joel A. Spivak. It was also one of the brief homes for the last radio show to be hosted by Morton Downey, Jr.
(the other being WRC's former sister station WTAM
in Cleveland
).
Two weeks prior to swapping call signs and formats, WWRC dropped its talk radio format for a financial news and talk format, one that would last over to a second dial position move to 1260
kHz.
. At the beginning, WTEM emulated the program lineup and even imported the jingles from WFAN
, the first all-sports radio station in the United States.
At the beginning, Paul Harris hosted the morning show between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., WTEM hired Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser
and CBS Sports
announcer James Brown to host two mid-day radio shows. The Tony Kornheiser Show
aired from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and The James Brown Show aired from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Kevin Kiley
and Rich "The Coach" Gilgallon hosted Kiley and the Coach, which emulated the highly successful Mike and the Mad Dog
radio program. Jean Fugett
and Ira Mellman anchored the night-time hours. WTEM also acquired the radio rights to broadcast the Washington Redskins
between 1992 and 1994.
However, the ratings of WTEM struggled mightily in the beginning. Harris was quickly replaced by Bruce Murray
and Bob Berger in late 1992. WTEM introduced Imus in the Morning
on July 19, 1993 to replace Murray and Berger in the 6–10 a.m. morning slot. For cost-cutting reasons, WTEM canceled Kiley and the Coach, and shows hosted by Phil Wood (8 p.m. to midnight) and Rob Weingarten (midnight to 6 a.m.) at the end of 1994. After Kiley and the Coach was canceled, WTEM tried several afternoon-drive shows before it settled to broadcast The Tony Kornheiser Show live between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and then replay between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to boost the afternoon drive-time ratings until the show moved to ESPN Radio
in January 1998.
After his contract not renewed by WMAL, Ken Beatrice
and his show, Sports Call, moved to WTEM in late 1995.
When The Tony Kornheiser Show launched in 1992, because Tony needed to focus on writing his Style column in the Washington Post
weekly, he usually did not host the show on Thursdays. Usually Andy Pollin
, the Sports Director at WTEM, would guest-host Tony's show on Thursdays. Between November 1995 and December 1996, Warner Wolf
was named the guest host of The Tony Kornheiser Show on Thursdays until he moved to New York
as a sports anchor on WCBS-TV
. Tony started to host on Thursdays when he was on ESPN Radio
.
When The Tony Kornheiser Show was on hiatus between November 14, 1997 and January 5, 1998, WTEM filled the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. slot with Kevin Kiley and the 4–7 p.m. slot with comedian Chuck Booms and Scott Linn. Booms joined WTEM as part of a stunt revolving the Comedy Central
show Comics on Delivery, where viewers were asked write in and enlist the aid of comedians to help them get through experiences from daily life. Because of on-air wildness and inexperience, Booms was later paired with the experienced Kiley.
When The Tony Kornheiser Show on ESPN Radio
debuted on January 5, 1998, the show aired between 1–4 p.m. WTEM filled the 10 a.m.–1 p.m. time slot with Doc Walker
and Al Koken hosting The Doc and Al Show and the 4–7 p.m. time slot with Kiley and Booms.
(6–10 a.m.), The Doc and Al Show (10 a.m.–1 p.m.), The Tony Kornheiser Show
on ESPN Radio
(1–4 p.m.), Kevin Kiley and Chuck Booms (4–7 p.m.) and Ken Beatrice
's Sports Call (7–10 p.m.).
Because of poor ratings, Kiley and Booms were canceled on November 13, 1998, which happened to be Friday. WTEM moved the highly rated The Tony Kornheiser Show to the 4–7 p.m. slot as a tape delay show to replace Kiley and Booms. Kornheiser did not like the idea because he would lose the callers from the WTEM broadcasting area. WTEM moved The Doc and Al Show into the 1–4 p.m. slot and created a new show hosted by Rich Cook and Kris O'Donnell in the 10 a.m.–1 p.m. slot.
When John Thompson
resigned as the head coach of the men's basketball team at Georgetown University
, WTEM moved The Doc and Al Show into the 10 a.m.–12 p.m. slot and invited Thompson to host a one-hour show within The Doc and Al Show (10:30-11:30 a.m.) called Timeout with Thompson starting March 3, 1999 before the 1999 NCAA Tournament
began. At the same time, WTEM introduced The Jim Rome Show
, assigned it into the 12–3 p.m. slot. Between The Jim Rome Show and The Tony Kornheiser Show, there was a one-hour program called The Playground hosted by WTEM news anchors.
After the 1999 NCAA Tournament
, because of the positive reviews, Thompson was named the host of The John Thompson Show airing 10 a.m.–12 p.m. with Walker and Koken as co-hosts, replacing The Doc and Al Show.
On September 13, 1999, ESPN Radio
moved The Tony Kornheiser Show to his favorite 10 a.m.–1 p.m. slot to make room for The Dan Patrick Show
. WTEM accommodated the move by moving The John Thompson Show to 3–5 p.m., reducing The Jim Rome Show to 2 hours and creating a new program called The Sports Reporters hosted by Andy Pollin between 5–7 p.m.
After the new lineup announced, Jim Rome
voiced his displeasure on the air, attacked Kornheiser and demanded WTEM to get his third hour back. In The Sports Reporters, Steve Czaban
began as a news anchor. Later on, Czaban became the co-host with Andy Pollin.
On April 20, 2000, veteran sports talk personality Ken Beatrice
retired. His show, Sports Call, was replaced by Steve Czaban
in the 7 p.m.-10 p.m. slot.
On April 9, 2001, WTEM became a secondary Fox Sports Radio
affiliate, picking up ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning
(6–9 a.m.) and Fox's The Tony Bruno
Extravaganza (9–10 a.m.). Both shows replaced Imus in the Morning
, which moved to WTNT
to boost the station's ratings. Czaban's evening program would also be picked up nationwide by Fox Sports Radio
later that year; the show would be moved by the network to morning drive in January 2005, with WTEM followed suit later that year.
On May 23, 2002, WTEM celebrated its tenth anniversary as a sports talk station with a special Sports Reporters show starting at 5 p.m.
From December 2003 until January 2005, WWRC
, by this point on the 1260 kHz frequency, carried a complementary sports/talk format as "SportsTalk 1260." WWRC carried the majority of Fox Sports Radio's lineup, simulcast WTEM's afternoon programming, and picked up Jim Rome in its entirety, enabling WTEM to become an exclusive ESPN Radio outlet (save for Czaban's syndicated program).
In December 2005, the station's studios were moved from Bethesda, Maryland, to 1801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, to consolidate Clear Channel's Washington operation.
Because of Tony Kornheiser
's preparation for ESPN's Monday Night Football
, The Tony Kornheiser Show on WTEM ended on April 28, 2006 and Kornheiser eventually left for WTWP
. Starting on May 1, 2006, The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban
filled in the 9 a.m.-12 p.m. slot, a new show hosted by Brian Mitchell and Bram Weinstein
aired between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., and The John Thompson Show was extended through 7 p.m.
In early June 2006, The Brian Mitchell Show changed again. Bram Weinstein
left WTEM and was replaced by Kevin Sheehan.
Starting February 12, 2007, The Brian Mitchell Show moved to the 10 a.m.–1 p.m. slot, The John Thompson Show moved to the 1 p.m.–4 p.m. slot and The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban
filled in the 4 p.m.–7 p.m. slot.
On April 30, 2007, Doc Walker went solo and hosted The Doc Walker Show from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. WTTG
's Dave Feldman and Comcast SportsNet
's Carol Maloney hosted a new show called Feldman and Maloney between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Brian Mitchell moved to The John Thompson Show as co-host. Regarding going solo, Walker said, "Management came to me and I thought that is was time to do my own show. If you are lucky enough to get a chance to do your own show you would be foolish not to take it. I will miss Al and Coach, but it was a perfect time for me to go out on my own."
On May 26, 2007, Phil Wood returned to WTEM, and hosted a weekly baseball show from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Then, on October 22, 2007, The Dan Patrick Show
, syndicated by the Content Factory, was back on WTEM in the 11 a.m.–1 p.m. slot as a tape delay show, replacing Feldman and Maloney. Both hosts were dropped following the merger of WTEM with Triple X ESPN Radio.
Red Zebra Broadcasting purchased WTEM, WTNT and WWRC from Clear Channel in a deal announced in 2008.
-programmed WLZL
"99.1 El Zol", Mega Communications changed the station to "Mega Clasica", a format consisting of a mixture of Latin Contemporary and Oldies.
Previously, as WMJS and WQRA respectively, these were traditional, full-service FM stations designed to serve their respective small cities of license and surrounding counties. During the 1990s, however, 94.3 underwent a series of unsuccessful attempts to garner listeners across suburban Northern Virginia
as a "rimshot" signal:
WBZS-FM, along with sister stations WBPS-FM and WKDL
-AM 730 in Alexandria, Virginia
, were sold in 2006 to Red Zebra Broadcasting. On July 17, 2006, the Mega Clasica format ended to make way for the English-language format sports radio format. The three stations became known as WWXT, WWXX and WXTR, reflecting the slogan "Triple-X ESPN Radio." The new trimulcast cleared most of ESPN Radio's weekday programming, as well as a local show hosted by former Redskin John Riggins
. Naturally, the flagship rights for the Redskins were transferred from WJFK-FM
to the trimulcast, which drew complaints from fans due to the mediocre signals of all three stations.
was eliminated, as well as the entire network show hosted by Mike Tirico
and Scott Van Pelt
(the latter of whom graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park
in the local area). WXTR temporarily remained in the simulcast until assuming a separate format as the Washington, DC affiliate of ESPN Deportes Radio
on September 1, 2008. WXTR also served as the Spanish-language home of Washington Redskins
games in 2008 and 2009.
Due to the new contract with ESPN Radio that guaranteed a full clearance for Mike and Mike in the Morning, Steve Czaban's morning show on Fox Sports Radio was dropped. That show, however, continued to be produced from WTEM's studios until Fox Sports Radio canceled the program in December 2009.
On September 8, 2009, The Tony Kornheiser Show returned to WTEM in the 10am-noon slot, dropping Cowherd's show entirely.
Red Zebra flipped WTNT from its conservative talk format to sports/talk on September 20, 2010, as an all-network complement to WTEM. WTNT now clears the entire ESPN Radio daytime schedule, and serves as the originating station for Steve Czaban's new morning show from Sporting News Radio
. This station also acts as a backup station in the case of any play-by-play scheduling conflicts with WTEM. WTNT's previous conservative talk format and call letter reside on the former WXTR, which was sold to Metro Radio on October 18, 2010.
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and serving the Washington metro area
Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...
. It is the flagship of a sports talk trimulcast with WWXT in Prince Frederick, Maryland
Prince Frederick, Maryland
Prince Frederick is a census-designated place in Calvert County, Maryland, United States, not to be confused with the incorporated, and much larger, city of Frederick some to the northwest in Frederick County...
and WWXX in Buckland, Virginia
Buckland, Virginia
Buckland is an unincorporated village in Prince William County, Virginia. Established in 1798, Buckland was an early inland stagecoach town, situated along the Fauquier and Alexandria Turnpike...
, all affiliated with ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
and owned by Red Zebra Broadcasting
Red Zebra Broadcasting
Red Zebra Broadcasting is a media company based in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The primary investors in Red Zebra are Daniel Snyder, better known as the owner of the Washington Redskins football franchise, and Dwight Schar, a minority owner of the team. Both are members of the...
.
Prior to July 21, 2008, WTEM was known as SportsTalk 980, used the slogan The Voice of the Fan, and was the DC outlet for Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio, abbreviated FSR, is an international radio network consisting of sports talk programming. The network is a service of Premiere Networks...
. Beforehand, WTEM was the Washington, DC affiliate for ESPN Radio before Red Zebra Broadcasting acquired the rights for its Triple X ESPN Radio trimulcast, which ended up merging with WTEM.
ESPN 980 is the home of The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin
Andy Pollin
Andy Pollin is an American radio personality. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in 1992 and continues to hold the title of Sports Director. Pollin currently co-hosts The Sports Reporters with Steve Czaban. He acted as sidekick on The Tony Kornheiser Show between 1992 and...
and Steve Czaban
Steve Czaban
Steve Czaban is an American sports radio personality. Czaban hosts The Steve Czaban Show on Yahoo! Sports Radio weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m., and co-hosts The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin on "ESPN 980" WTEM weekday afternoons from 4 to 7 p.m...
, The Tony Kornheiser Show
The Tony Kornheiser Show
The Tony Kornheiser Show is a sports radio talk show out of Washington, D.C. hosted by Tony Kornheiser, which appeared on WTEM from 1992 to 1997; on ESPN Radio between 1998 and 2004; back on WTEM from 2004 to 2006; and on WTWP and then WWWT in 2007 and 2008; and back on WTEM since September 8, 2009...
, The Doc Walker
Rick Walker
Richard "Doc" Walker is a former American football tight end in the National Football League, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Washington Redskins...
Show and The John Thompson
John Thompson (basketball)
John R. Thompson, Jr. is an American former basketball coach for the Georgetown University Hoyas. He is now a professional radio and TV sports commentator...
Show.
WTEM is also the flagship radio station for Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
football (as Red Zebra is operated by Redskins owner Daniel Snyder
Daniel Snyder
Daniel M. Snyder is the current owner of the Washington Redskins American football team, owner of the Dick Clark Productions television production company, and primary investor in Red Zebra Broadcasting, which is home to the Redskins Radio Network. Snyder has a net worth of $1.05 billion...
) and Georgetown Hoyas
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
basketball. "ESPN 980" airs Maryland Terrapins
Maryland Terrapins
The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 27 men's and women's athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I competition...
football & basketball and Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
baseball as an affiliate station.
WTEM's studios are located in Rockville, Maryland
Rockville, Maryland
Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is a major incorporated city in the central part of Montgomery County and forms part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The 2010 U.S...
, and its transmitter is located in Hyattsville, Maryland
Hyattsville, Maryland
Hyattsville is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 17,557 at the 2000 census.- History :The city was named for its founder, Christopher Clark Hyatt. He purchased his first parcel of land in the area in March 1845...
. It operates with 50,000 watts power during the day and 5,000 watts power at night. The signal can be heard weakly but clearly as far west as Clarksburg, West Virginia
Clarksburg, West Virginia
Clarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area...
, and as far south as Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
in daytime. The FM stations both broadcast below 3,000 watts and mainly serve to fill in the gaps in WTEM's coverage.
WRC Radio
The station was originally licensed in April 1923 as WRC, whose call letters were a shortened version of the original owner's name, the Radio Corporation of America. The station's original frequency was 469 meters (equal to 640 kHz.), and it was shared with another Washington station, WCAP. The time-sharing arrangement between the two stations continued until 1926, when RCA purchased WCAP's share.When RCA launched the National Broadcasting Company radio networks in 1927, WRC was assigned to the Red Network
NBC Red Network
The NBC Red Network was one of the two original radio networks of the National Broadcasting Company. After NBC was required to divest itself of its Blue Network , the Red Network continued as the NBC Radio Network.It, along with the Blue Network, were the first two commercial radio networks in the...
. NBC's other radio chain, the Blue Network
Blue Network
The Blue Network, and its immediate predecessor, the NBC Blue Network, were the on-air names of an American radio production and distribution service from 1927 to 1945...
, had no affiliate in the national capital city until RCA entered into a lease agreement with WMAL in 1933. WRC and WMAL would become de-facto sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
s during the lease term, which ran for eight years. WRC moved its frequency to 950 AM in 1928, and then shifted to 980 AM in 1941 as a result of the North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement, usually referred to as NARBA, is a treaty that took effect in March 1941 and set out the bandplan and interference rules for mediumwave AM broadcasting in North America. Although mostly replaced by other agreements in the 1980s, the basic bandplan...
. With WRC as its cornerstone, RCA/NBC later birthed WNBW television (channel 4, now WRC-TV
WRC-TV
WRC-TV, channel 4, is an owned and operated television station of the NBC television network, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
) in 1947, and WRC-FM (93.9 MHz, now WKYS
WKYS
WKYS, the "Station for Interactive Hip Hop and R&B", is an American radio station broadcasting an Urban Contemporary radio format, that serves the greater Washington metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located on the same tower as WRC-TV. The station broadcasts from a class B signal with an...
).
WRC carried Willard Scott
Willard Scott
Willard Herman Scott, Jr. is an American media personality and author best known for his television work on NBC's The Today Show and as the creator of the Ronald McDonald character.-Early years:...
and Ed Walker
Ed Walker
Ed Walker is a Washington, D.C., radio personality. He hosts a weekly four-hour Sunday night program, The Big Broadcast, on WAMU-FM, featuring vintage radio programs from the 1930s to 1950s, such as Gunsmoke, The Jack Benny Show, The Lone Ranger, Fibber McGee and Molly, and Superman...
as the Joy Boys
Joy Boys (radio program)
The Joy Boys was a popular daily improvised comedy radio show in Washington, D.C., United States, between 1955 and 1974 that launched the broadcast careers of the program's co-hosts, Willard Scott and Ed Walker. The two did various skits and satirized prominent people of the day, such as Scott's...
from 1955 to 1972, and carried the Monitor
Monitor (NBC Radio)
NBC Monitor was an American weekend radio program broadcast from June 12, 1955, until January 26, 1975. Airing live and nationwide on the NBC Radio Network, it originally aired beginning Saturday morning at 8am and continuing through the weekend until 12 midnight on Sunday...
radio program on weekends. From 1972 to 1975, WRC broadcast a Top 40 format (it was one of the Greaseman's early radio stops) and was known as the Great 98.
The station switched to NBC News and Information Service programming from 1975 to 1977; and after the demise of NIS, the station aired an all-news format before switching to news-talk in 1979. The talk programming included the first pairing of Pat Buchanan
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
and Tom Braden who became the original hosts of CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's Crossfire
Crossfire (TV series)
Crossfire was a current events debate television program that aired from 1982 to 2005 on CNN. Its format was designed to present and challenge the opinions of a politically liberal pundit and a conservative pundit.-Format:...
, as well as satirist Mort Sahl
Mort Sahl
Morton Lyon "Mort" Sahl is a Canadian-born American comedian and actor. He occasionally wrote jokes for speeches delivered by President John F. Kennedy. He was the first comedian to record a live album and the first to perform on college campuses...
, psychologist Karen Shanor and former Philadelphia talk-show host Jerry Williams. Jack Donniger hosted an evening sports-talk show.
The AM's former Top 40 format was moved to the FM side and later evolved into a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
-pop dance music format in the late 1970s as Kiss FM, which evolved to that station's current Urban format.
WRC was purchased by Greater Media
Greater Media
Greater Media, Inc., known as Greater Media, is an American media company that specializes in radio stations. The markets where they own radio stations include Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and the state of New Jersey...
in 1984 and the call sign was changed to WWRC, as NBC retained the rights to the original call sign for WRC-TV. During the early 1990s, WWRC was the talk show home to current and formerly notable personalities such as Joe Madison
Joe Madison
Joe Madison, alternatively known as "The Black Eagle" or "Madison," is an American radio talk show host and activist.-Early years:...
, Mark Davis
Mark Davis (talk show host)
Mark Davis is an American radio host, newspaper columnist, and political commentator. His local talk show, The Mark Davis Show, airs on weekdays from 8:30 AM to 11 AM on WBAP in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, and his popular column is published in The Dallas Morning News...
and Joel A. Spivak. It was also one of the brief homes for the last radio show to be hosted by Morton Downey, Jr.
Morton Downey, Jr.
Morton Downey, Jr. was an American singer, songwriter and later a television talk show host of the 1980s who pioneered the "trash TV" format on his program The Morton Downey Jr. Show....
(the other being WRC's former sister station WTAM
WTAM
WTAM — branded Newsradio WTAM 1100 — is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Owned by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts primarily a news/talk format...
in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
).
Two weeks prior to swapping call signs and formats, WWRC dropped its talk radio format for a financial news and talk format, one that would last over to a second dial position move to 1260
WWRC
WWRC —branded 1260 WRC—is a news/talk radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with 5,000 watts on an unlimited basis with studios and transmitters both located in the city proper...
kHz.
Sports Radio 570 - The Team
Before moving to 980 kHz, WTEM was known as Sports Radio 570 - The Team and on the frequency of 570 kHz, which previously had been used by classical music station WGMS. WTEM made its debut at 3:30 p.m. on May 24, 1992, right after the Indianapolis 500Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
. At the beginning, WTEM emulated the program lineup and even imported the jingles from WFAN
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
, the first all-sports radio station in the United States.
At the beginning, Paul Harris hosted the morning show between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., WTEM hired Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser
Tony Kornheiser
Anthony Irwin "Tony" Kornheiser is an American sportswriter and former columnist for The Washington Post, as well as a radio and television talk show host...
and CBS Sports
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
announcer James Brown to host two mid-day radio shows. The Tony Kornheiser Show
The Tony Kornheiser Show
The Tony Kornheiser Show is a sports radio talk show out of Washington, D.C. hosted by Tony Kornheiser, which appeared on WTEM from 1992 to 1997; on ESPN Radio between 1998 and 2004; back on WTEM from 2004 to 2006; and on WTWP and then WWWT in 2007 and 2008; and back on WTEM since September 8, 2009...
aired from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and The James Brown Show aired from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Kevin Kiley
Kevin Kiley
Kevin Kiley is the name of:* Kevin C. Kiley, retired Lieutenant General of the United States Army* Kevin Kiley , American sportscaster and talk show host...
and Rich "The Coach" Gilgallon hosted Kiley and the Coach, which emulated the highly successful Mike and the Mad Dog
Mike and the Mad Dog
Mike and the Mad Dog was an afternoon drive sports radio program based out of WFAN in New York City that featured Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo talking sports and taking phone calls from listeners. From 2002 onwards the show was simulcasted on the YES Network...
radio program. Jean Fugett
Jean Fugett
Jean Schloss Fugett, Jr. is a former professional American football tight end in the National Football League. A 6'3", 225 lbs...
and Ira Mellman anchored the night-time hours. WTEM also acquired the radio rights to broadcast the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
between 1992 and 1994.
However, the ratings of WTEM struggled mightily in the beginning. Harris was quickly replaced by Bruce Murray
Bruce Murray (sportscaster)
Bruce Murray is an American sports radio personality and is currently the host of a daily radio show on Mad Dog Radio on Sirius XM. Bruce can also be seen Tuesday and Thursday hosting "Daily News Live" on SNY in New York....
and Bob Berger in late 1992. WTEM introduced Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning is an American radio show hosted by Don Imus on Cumulus Media Networks , and simulcast for television on Fox Business Network....
on July 19, 1993 to replace Murray and Berger in the 6–10 a.m. morning slot. For cost-cutting reasons, WTEM canceled Kiley and the Coach, and shows hosted by Phil Wood (8 p.m. to midnight) and Rob Weingarten (midnight to 6 a.m.) at the end of 1994. After Kiley and the Coach was canceled, WTEM tried several afternoon-drive shows before it settled to broadcast The Tony Kornheiser Show live between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and then replay between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to boost the afternoon drive-time ratings until the show moved to ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
in January 1998.
After his contract not renewed by WMAL, Ken Beatrice
Ken Beatrice
Ken Beatrice was an American radio personality and sports talk radio pioneer. He hosted a Washington D.C. area radio call in sports show for 23 years, first on WMAL 630 between 1973 and 1995, later on WTEM 570 and 980 between 1995 and 2000. His last show on WMAL was on October 6, 1995...
and his show, Sports Call, moved to WTEM in late 1995.
When The Tony Kornheiser Show launched in 1992, because Tony needed to focus on writing his Style column in the Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
weekly, he usually did not host the show on Thursdays. Usually Andy Pollin
Andy Pollin
Andy Pollin is an American radio personality. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in 1992 and continues to hold the title of Sports Director. Pollin currently co-hosts The Sports Reporters with Steve Czaban. He acted as sidekick on The Tony Kornheiser Show between 1992 and...
, the Sports Director at WTEM, would guest-host Tony's show on Thursdays. Between November 1995 and December 1996, Warner Wolf
Warner Wolf
Warner William Wolf is an American television and radio sports broadcaster, perhaps best known as a local news sports anchor in Washington, D.C., New York City and his catchphrase "Let's go to the videotape!"....
was named the guest host of The Tony Kornheiser Show on Thursdays until he moved to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as a sports anchor on WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building, both in Midtown Manhattan....
. Tony started to host on Thursdays when he was on ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
.
When The Tony Kornheiser Show was on hiatus between November 14, 1997 and January 5, 1998, WTEM filled the 10 a.m.-1 p.m. slot with Kevin Kiley and the 4–7 p.m. slot with comedian Chuck Booms and Scott Linn. Booms joined WTEM as part of a stunt revolving the Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
show Comics on Delivery, where viewers were asked write in and enlist the aid of comedians to help them get through experiences from daily life. Because of on-air wildness and inexperience, Booms was later paired with the experienced Kiley.
When The Tony Kornheiser Show on ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
debuted on January 5, 1998, the show aired between 1–4 p.m. WTEM filled the 10 a.m.–1 p.m. time slot with Doc Walker
Rick Walker
Richard "Doc" Walker is a former American football tight end in the National Football League, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Washington Redskins...
and Al Koken hosting The Doc and Al Show and the 4–7 p.m. time slot with Kiley and Booms.
SportsTalk 980
On March 9, 1998, WTEM moved from 570 kHz to 980 kHz. After the move, WTEM was branded as SportsTalk 980. The lineups on March 9, 1998 are Imus in the MorningImus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning is an American radio show hosted by Don Imus on Cumulus Media Networks , and simulcast for television on Fox Business Network....
(6–10 a.m.), The Doc and Al Show (10 a.m.–1 p.m.), The Tony Kornheiser Show
The Tony Kornheiser Show
The Tony Kornheiser Show is a sports radio talk show out of Washington, D.C. hosted by Tony Kornheiser, which appeared on WTEM from 1992 to 1997; on ESPN Radio between 1998 and 2004; back on WTEM from 2004 to 2006; and on WTWP and then WWWT in 2007 and 2008; and back on WTEM since September 8, 2009...
on ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
(1–4 p.m.), Kevin Kiley and Chuck Booms (4–7 p.m.) and Ken Beatrice
Ken Beatrice
Ken Beatrice was an American radio personality and sports talk radio pioneer. He hosted a Washington D.C. area radio call in sports show for 23 years, first on WMAL 630 between 1973 and 1995, later on WTEM 570 and 980 between 1995 and 2000. His last show on WMAL was on October 6, 1995...
's Sports Call (7–10 p.m.).
Because of poor ratings, Kiley and Booms were canceled on November 13, 1998, which happened to be Friday. WTEM moved the highly rated The Tony Kornheiser Show to the 4–7 p.m. slot as a tape delay show to replace Kiley and Booms. Kornheiser did not like the idea because he would lose the callers from the WTEM broadcasting area. WTEM moved The Doc and Al Show into the 1–4 p.m. slot and created a new show hosted by Rich Cook and Kris O'Donnell in the 10 a.m.–1 p.m. slot.
When John Thompson
John Thompson (basketball)
John R. Thompson, Jr. is an American former basketball coach for the Georgetown University Hoyas. He is now a professional radio and TV sports commentator...
resigned as the head coach of the men's basketball team at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, WTEM moved The Doc and Al Show into the 10 a.m.–12 p.m. slot and invited Thompson to host a one-hour show within The Doc and Al Show (10:30-11:30 a.m.) called Timeout with Thompson starting March 3, 1999 before the 1999 NCAA Tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
began. At the same time, WTEM introduced The Jim Rome Show
The Jim Rome Show
The Jim Rome Show is a sports radio talk show hosted by Jim Rome. It airs live for three hours each weekday from 9 a.m. to noon Pacific. The show is produced in Los Angeles, California, syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks, and can be heard on more than 200 affiliate radio stations in the U.S...
, assigned it into the 12–3 p.m. slot. Between The Jim Rome Show and The Tony Kornheiser Show, there was a one-hour program called The Playground hosted by WTEM news anchors.
After the 1999 NCAA Tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
, because of the positive reviews, Thompson was named the host of The John Thompson Show airing 10 a.m.–12 p.m. with Walker and Koken as co-hosts, replacing The Doc and Al Show.
On September 13, 1999, ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio is an American sports radio network. It was launched on January 1, 1992 under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN." ESPN Radio is located at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut...
moved The Tony Kornheiser Show to his favorite 10 a.m.–1 p.m. slot to make room for The Dan Patrick Show
The Dan Patrick Show
The Dan Patrick Show is a syndicated sports talk show hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by DirecTV Sports Group and is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks. The three-hour program broadcasts live every day beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern/6 a.m. Pacific time on Fox...
. WTEM accommodated the move by moving The John Thompson Show to 3–5 p.m., reducing The Jim Rome Show to 2 hours and creating a new program called The Sports Reporters hosted by Andy Pollin between 5–7 p.m.
After the new lineup announced, Jim Rome
Jim Rome
Jim Rome is an American sports radio talk show host syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications....
voiced his displeasure on the air, attacked Kornheiser and demanded WTEM to get his third hour back. In The Sports Reporters, Steve Czaban
Steve Czaban
Steve Czaban is an American sports radio personality. Czaban hosts The Steve Czaban Show on Yahoo! Sports Radio weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m., and co-hosts The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin on "ESPN 980" WTEM weekday afternoons from 4 to 7 p.m...
began as a news anchor. Later on, Czaban became the co-host with Andy Pollin.
On April 20, 2000, veteran sports talk personality Ken Beatrice
Ken Beatrice
Ken Beatrice was an American radio personality and sports talk radio pioneer. He hosted a Washington D.C. area radio call in sports show for 23 years, first on WMAL 630 between 1973 and 1995, later on WTEM 570 and 980 between 1995 and 2000. His last show on WMAL was on October 6, 1995...
retired. His show, Sports Call, was replaced by Steve Czaban
Steve Czaban
Steve Czaban is an American sports radio personality. Czaban hosts The Steve Czaban Show on Yahoo! Sports Radio weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m., and co-hosts The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin on "ESPN 980" WTEM weekday afternoons from 4 to 7 p.m...
in the 7 p.m.-10 p.m. slot.
On April 9, 2001, WTEM became a secondary Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio, abbreviated FSR, is an international radio network consisting of sports talk programming. The network is a service of Premiere Networks...
affiliate, picking up ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning
Mike and Mike in the Morning
Mike and Mike in the Morning is an American sports-talk radio show hosted by Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg on ESPN Radio and simulcast on television, normally on ESPN2. If ESPN is broadcasting a live sporting event during the show's timeslot, Sportscenter will air on ESPN2, and the show's...
(6–9 a.m.) and Fox's The Tony Bruno
Tony Bruno
For Tony Bruno, the musician, see Tony Bruno Tony Bruno is an American sports talk radio personality in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
Extravaganza (9–10 a.m.). Both shows replaced Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning is an American radio show hosted by Don Imus on Cumulus Media Networks , and simulcast for television on Fox Business Network....
, which moved to WTNT
WTNT (AM)
WTNT —branded AM 730 WTNT—is a news/talk radio station licensed to Alexandria, Virginia and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with unlimited hours, with 8,000 watts during the daytime, and 25 watts in the evening hours...
to boost the station's ratings. Czaban's evening program would also be picked up nationwide by Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio
Fox Sports Radio, abbreviated FSR, is an international radio network consisting of sports talk programming. The network is a service of Premiere Networks...
later that year; the show would be moved by the network to morning drive in January 2005, with WTEM followed suit later that year.
On May 23, 2002, WTEM celebrated its tenth anniversary as a sports talk station with a special Sports Reporters show starting at 5 p.m.
From December 2003 until January 2005, WWRC
WWRC
WWRC —branded 1260 WRC—is a news/talk radio station licensed to Washington, D.C. and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with 5,000 watts on an unlimited basis with studios and transmitters both located in the city proper...
, by this point on the 1260 kHz frequency, carried a complementary sports/talk format as "SportsTalk 1260." WWRC carried the majority of Fox Sports Radio's lineup, simulcast WTEM's afternoon programming, and picked up Jim Rome in its entirety, enabling WTEM to become an exclusive ESPN Radio outlet (save for Czaban's syndicated program).
In December 2005, the station's studios were moved from Bethesda, Maryland, to 1801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, to consolidate Clear Channel's Washington operation.
Because of Tony Kornheiser
Tony Kornheiser
Anthony Irwin "Tony" Kornheiser is an American sportswriter and former columnist for The Washington Post, as well as a radio and television talk show host...
's preparation for ESPN's Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
, The Tony Kornheiser Show on WTEM ended on April 28, 2006 and Kornheiser eventually left for WTWP
WTWP
WFED is a full-power radio station in the Washington, D.C. region, broadcasting from just outside the District line in Wheaton, Maryland. The signal is relayed on WWFD on 820 kHz in Frederick, Maryland. The stations broadcast a news, talk and information format targeted towards U.S...
. Starting on May 1, 2006, The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban
Steve Czaban
Steve Czaban is an American sports radio personality. Czaban hosts The Steve Czaban Show on Yahoo! Sports Radio weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m., and co-hosts The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin on "ESPN 980" WTEM weekday afternoons from 4 to 7 p.m...
filled in the 9 a.m.-12 p.m. slot, a new show hosted by Brian Mitchell and Bram Weinstein
Bram Weinstein
Brahm Weinstein is currently an on-air anchor for ESPNEWS. He started with ESPN in May 2008. Prior to working for ESPN, Weinstein was a sports radio personality in Washington, D.C. Weinstein worked for Triple X ESPN Radio, which broadcasts in Washington, D.C. on 94.3 FM, 92.7 FM and 730 AM...
aired between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., and The John Thompson Show was extended through 7 p.m.
In early June 2006, The Brian Mitchell Show changed again. Bram Weinstein
Bram Weinstein
Brahm Weinstein is currently an on-air anchor for ESPNEWS. He started with ESPN in May 2008. Prior to working for ESPN, Weinstein was a sports radio personality in Washington, D.C. Weinstein worked for Triple X ESPN Radio, which broadcasts in Washington, D.C. on 94.3 FM, 92.7 FM and 730 AM...
left WTEM and was replaced by Kevin Sheehan.
Starting February 12, 2007, The Brian Mitchell Show moved to the 10 a.m.–1 p.m. slot, The John Thompson Show moved to the 1 p.m.–4 p.m. slot and The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin and Steve Czaban
Steve Czaban
Steve Czaban is an American sports radio personality. Czaban hosts The Steve Czaban Show on Yahoo! Sports Radio weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m., and co-hosts The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin on "ESPN 980" WTEM weekday afternoons from 4 to 7 p.m...
filled in the 4 p.m.–7 p.m. slot.
On April 30, 2007, Doc Walker went solo and hosted The Doc Walker Show from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. WTTG
WTTG
WTTG, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
's Dave Feldman and Comcast SportsNet
Comcast SportsNet
Comcast SportsNet is a group of regional sports networks in the United States primarily owned by the Comcast cable television company....
's Carol Maloney hosted a new show called Feldman and Maloney between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Brian Mitchell moved to The John Thompson Show as co-host. Regarding going solo, Walker said, "Management came to me and I thought that is was time to do my own show. If you are lucky enough to get a chance to do your own show you would be foolish not to take it. I will miss Al and Coach, but it was a perfect time for me to go out on my own."
On May 26, 2007, Phil Wood returned to WTEM, and hosted a weekly baseball show from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Then, on October 22, 2007, The Dan Patrick Show
The Dan Patrick Show
The Dan Patrick Show is a syndicated sports talk show hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by DirecTV Sports Group and is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks. The three-hour program broadcasts live every day beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern/6 a.m. Pacific time on Fox...
, syndicated by the Content Factory, was back on WTEM in the 11 a.m.–1 p.m. slot as a tape delay show, replacing Feldman and Maloney. Both hosts were dropped following the merger of WTEM with Triple X ESPN Radio.
Red Zebra Broadcasting purchased WTEM, WTNT and WWRC from Clear Channel in a deal announced in 2008.
WWXT and WWXX
From 2001 until November 17, 2005, WBZS-FM 92.7/WBPS-FM 94.3 aired the Spanish Tropical format under the positioning of "La Nueva Mega" (originally, WBPS aired a separate format, Spanish love songs "Amor"). However, due to strong competition from Infinity Broadcasting-owned and SBSSpanish Broadcasting System
Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States. SBS is also invested in television and internet properties, deriving the majority of its income from advertising through its media products.SBS owns the internet portal LaMusica.com...
-programmed WLZL
WLZL
WLZL is a radio station broadcasting a Spanish language format. Licensed to the suburb of Bowie, Maryland, it serves the Baltimore, Maryland/Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The station is currently owned by CBS Radio. Its transmitter is located near Crofton, Maryland.-History:WLZL signed on...
"99.1 El Zol", Mega Communications changed the station to "Mega Clasica", a format consisting of a mixture of Latin Contemporary and Oldies.
Previously, as WMJS and WQRA respectively, these were traditional, full-service FM stations designed to serve their respective small cities of license and surrounding counties. During the 1990s, however, 94.3 underwent a series of unsuccessful attempts to garner listeners across suburban Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
as a "rimshot" signal:
- 1996-97: WINX-FM (oldiesOldiesOldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....
; simulcast of 1600 WINXWLXEWLXE is a radio station broadcasting on 1600 kHz in the mediumwave AM band. Its studios and transmitters are located in Rockville, Maryland, and it serves the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. WLXE broadcasts music programming in the Spanish language...
Rockville, MD) - 1997-98: WTOP-FM (all-newsAll-news radioAll-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
; the original FM simulcast partner of 1500 WTOPWTOP-FMWTOP is an all-news formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., serving Metropolitan Washington, DC area. WTOP is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.WTOP is one of two all-news stations in the Washington, D.C...
) - 1998-99: WUPP ("Up Country"; uptempo countryCountry musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
spiked with Southern rockSouthern rockSouthern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
, similar to what's heard now on 104.5 WGRXWGRXWGRX is a Country formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Falmouth, Virginia, serving the Fredericksburg area. WGRX is owned and operated by Telemedia Broadcasting, Inc.-External links:*...
FredericksburgFredericksburg, VirginiaFredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
) - 1999-2001: WPLC ("The Pulse"; mostly satellite-delivered hot AC)
WBZS-FM, along with sister stations WBPS-FM and WKDL
WTNT (AM)
WTNT —branded AM 730 WTNT—is a news/talk radio station licensed to Alexandria, Virginia and serving the Washington metro area. It operates with unlimited hours, with 8,000 watts during the daytime, and 25 watts in the evening hours...
-AM 730 in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, were sold in 2006 to Red Zebra Broadcasting. On July 17, 2006, the Mega Clasica format ended to make way for the English-language format sports radio format. The three stations became known as WWXT, WWXX and WXTR, reflecting the slogan "Triple-X ESPN Radio." The new trimulcast cleared most of ESPN Radio's weekday programming, as well as a local show hosted by former Redskin John Riggins
John Riggins
Robert John Riggins, nicknamed "The Diesel", is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. Riggins was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992....
. Naturally, the flagship rights for the Redskins were transferred from WJFK-FM
WJFK-FM
WJFK-FM, known on-air as 106.7 The Fan, is a sports radio-formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Manassas, Virginia, serving the metro Washington DC area...
to the trimulcast, which drew complaints from fans due to the mediocre signals of all three stations.
ESPN 980
When WTEM merged with Triple X ESPN Radio, the last hour of The Herd with Colin CowherdThe Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd is a sports talk radio show hosted by Colin Cowherd and broadcast on ESPN Radio from Bristol, Connecticut. The show is heard Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. ET until 1 p.m. ET on most ESPN Radio stations and is simulcasted on ESPNews...
was eliminated, as well as the entire network show hosted by Mike Tirico
Mike Tirico
Michael Todd Tirico is an announcer for ESPN's presentation of Monday Night Football, and second lead broadcaster for ESPN's presentation of the NBA. In addition, Tirico hosts a multitude of programming on ESPN/ABC. He was the host of ABC's golf coverage from 1996 to 2007, and continues in that...
and Scott Van Pelt
Scott Van Pelt
Scott Van Pelt is an American sportscaster. He is an anchor for the 11 p.m. edition of SportsCenter on ESPN, the host of The Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio and has also covered various golf events for the network.-Early life:...
(the latter of whom graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
in the local area). WXTR temporarily remained in the simulcast until assuming a separate format as the Washington, DC affiliate of ESPN Deportes Radio
ESPN Deportes Radio
ESPN Deportes Radio is a Spanish language sports radio network created and produced by Disney-owned ESPN. Programming includes call-in talk shows and commentary from hosts about a full range of sporting events, including soccer, American football, baseball and boxing.The network has stations in 13...
on September 1, 2008. WXTR also served as the Spanish-language home of Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
games in 2008 and 2009.
Due to the new contract with ESPN Radio that guaranteed a full clearance for Mike and Mike in the Morning, Steve Czaban's morning show on Fox Sports Radio was dropped. That show, however, continued to be produced from WTEM's studios until Fox Sports Radio canceled the program in December 2009.
On September 8, 2009, The Tony Kornheiser Show returned to WTEM in the 10am-noon slot, dropping Cowherd's show entirely.
Red Zebra flipped WTNT from its conservative talk format to sports/talk on September 20, 2010, as an all-network complement to WTEM. WTNT now clears the entire ESPN Radio daytime schedule, and serves as the originating station for Steve Czaban's new morning show from Sporting News Radio
Sporting News Radio
Yahoo! Sports Radio, formerly Sporting News Radio is a United States sports radio network that broadcasts sports news, talk, scores, and highlights 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On August 1, 2011, it was announced the network would change its name to Yahoo! Sports Radio, effective...
. This station also acts as a backup station in the case of any play-by-play scheduling conflicts with WTEM. WTNT's previous conservative talk format and call letter reside on the former WXTR, which was sold to Metro Radio on October 18, 2010.
Hosts
- Steve CzabanSteve CzabanSteve Czaban is an American sports radio personality. Czaban hosts The Steve Czaban Show on Yahoo! Sports Radio weekday mornings from 6 to 10 a.m., and co-hosts The Sports Reporters with Andy Pollin on "ESPN 980" WTEM weekday afternoons from 4 to 7 p.m...
- Tony KornheiserTony KornheiserAnthony Irwin "Tony" Kornheiser is an American sportswriter and former columnist for The Washington Post, as well as a radio and television talk show host...
- Thom LoverroThom LoverroThomas F. Loverro , is an American sportswriter. He was voted the Maryland sportswriter of the year in 2009 by the NSSA.-External links:**...
- Andy PollinAndy PollinAndy Pollin is an American radio personality. He helped launch Washington, D.C. sports talk station WTEM in 1992 and continues to hold the title of Sports Director. Pollin currently co-hosts The Sports Reporters with Steve Czaban. He acted as sidekick on The Tony Kornheiser Show between 1992 and...
- John ThompsonJohn Thompson (basketball)John R. Thompson, Jr. is an American former basketball coach for the Georgetown University Hoyas. He is now a professional radio and TV sports commentator...
- Kevin Sheehan
- Marc "Nigel" Sterne
- Rick "Doc" WalkerRick WalkerRichard "Doc" Walker is a former American football tight end in the National Football League, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Washington Redskins...
Past local hosts and news reporters
- Rich Ackerman (currently at WFANWFANWFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
and Sirius Satellite RadioSirius Satellite RadioSirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
) - Ken BeatriceKen BeatriceKen Beatrice was an American radio personality and sports talk radio pioneer. He hosted a Washington D.C. area radio call in sports show for 23 years, first on WMAL 630 between 1973 and 1995, later on WTEM 570 and 980 between 1995 and 2000. His last show on WMAL was on October 6, 1995...
- Jack HarrisJack Harris (broadcaster)Jack Harris is an American radio and television personality based in Tampa, Florida who co-hosts the morning drive time program on 970 WFLA and is a broadcaster with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Tampa Bay Storm and the Outback Bowl...
(WRC morning disc jockey, now at 970 WFLA) - Bob Berger (currently at Sporting News RadioSporting News RadioYahoo! Sports Radio, formerly Sporting News Radio is a United States sports radio network that broadcasts sports news, talk, scores, and highlights 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On August 1, 2011, it was announced the network would change its name to Yahoo! Sports Radio, effective...
) - John Bisney (WRC)
- Jim BohannonJim BohannonJames E. "Jim" Bohannon is an American broadcaster who has worked in both television and radio.During the 1980s he was a fill-in for Larry King when King had his popular nighttime national radio program. He also does much work with the Smithsonian Associates...
(WRC - currently at Westwood OneWestwood OneWestwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
) - Camille Bohannan (WRC - currently at AP Radio)
- Chuck Booms
- Tom Braden (WRC - deceased)
- James Brown (currently at CBS SportsCBS SportsCBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
) - Rudy Brewington (WRC)
- Pat BuchananPat BuchananPatrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
(WRC - currently at MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
) - Paul Butler (currently at WBOC-TVWBOC-TVWBOC-TV, channel 16 , is a CBS affiliate based in Salisbury, Maryland, USA. WBOC-TV is owned by the Draper Holdings Business Trust, with its main studios in Salisbury, secondary studios/office facilities in Dover and Milton, Delaware, and transmitter in Laurel, Delaware...
Salisbury, MD) - Jerry Coleman (currently at WVIEWVIEWVIE is a radio station broadcasting a sports format. Licensed to Pikesville, Maryland, USA, it serves the Baltimore area....
in BaltimoreBaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
) - Rich Cook
- Richard Day (currently at WTOPWTOP-FMWTOP is an all-news formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., serving Metropolitan Washington, DC area. WTOP is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.WTOP is one of two all-news stations in the Washington, D.C...
) - Don Doke (WRC News)
- Jack Donniger (WRC Sports)
- Dave Feldman
- Earl Forcey (currently at Westwood OneWestwood OneWestwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
) - Jean Fugett
- Rich Gilgallon (currently at KPSI (AM)KPSI (AM)KPSI is a radio station broadcasting a News/Talk radio format. Licensed to Palm Springs, California, USA, the station serves the Palm Springs area...
) - Wendell GolerWendell GolerWendell Goler is the Senior White House and Foreign Affairs correspondent for Fox News Channel, who joined the network in 1996. During his time at the network, he has covered any number of stories from the impeachment of President Bill Clinton to President Bush's post September 11, 2001 policy...
(WRC) - Tina Gulland (WRC federal beat)
- Paul Harris (currently at KMOX)
- John Irving (WRC)
- Scott Jackson (currently at WCMC-FMWCMC-FMWCMC-FM is a Sports Talk radio station based in Raleigh, North Carolina and licensed to nearby Holly Springs. Its studios are located in downtown Raleigh along with WRAL-FM, an adult contemporary music station...
in RaleighRaleigh, North CarolinaRaleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
) - Kevin Kiley (currently at Westwood OneWestwood OneWestwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
and KSPNKSPN (AM)KSPN is an all-sports radio station based in Los Angeles, California. It is owned by Disney. It is an ESPN Radio owned-and-operated station.-Play-by-play:...
in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
) - Al Koken
- Marge Kumaki (WRC)
- Mitch Levy (currently at KJR (AM) in Seattle)
- Mac McGarry (WRC booth announcer extraordinaire)
- Carol Maloney
- Ira Mellman
- Dan Miller (currently at WJBK-TV in Detroit)
- Brian Mitchell
- Bruce MurrayBruce Murray (sportscaster)Bruce Murray is an American sports radio personality and is currently the host of a daily radio show on Mad Dog Radio on Sirius XM. Bruce can also be seen Tuesday and Thursday hosting "Daily News Live" on SNY in New York....
(currently at Sirius Satellite RadioSirius Satellite RadioSirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
) - Kris O'Donnell (currently at WDTNWDTNWDTN, virtual channel 2, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Ohio's Miami Valley. Licensed to Dayton, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter in the Frytown section of the city. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in...
in Dayton, OhioDayton, OhioDayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
) - Donna Penyak (WRC)
- Tony Roberts (WRC Sports)
- Mort SahlMort SahlMorton Lyon "Mort" Sahl is a Canadian-born American comedian and actor. He occasionally wrote jokes for speeches delivered by President John F. Kennedy. He was the first comedian to record a live album and the first to perform on college campuses...
(WRC) - Willard Scott (WRC "The Joy Boys", top 40 jock in the mid 70's)
- Doug Tracht (aka "The Greaseman") (WRC)
- Ed Walker (WRC "The Joy Boys")
- Pam WardPam WardPam Ward is an on-air personality for the cable sports television network ESPN.She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park with a degree in communications....
(currently at ESPNESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
) - Mark Weber (later at WTOPWTOP-FMWTOP is an all-news formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., serving Metropolitan Washington, DC area. WTOP is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.WTOP is one of two all-news stations in the Washington, D.C...
, currently Brand Manager at McFarlane Toys) - Bram WeinsteinBram WeinsteinBrahm Weinstein is currently an on-air anchor for ESPNEWS. He started with ESPN in May 2008. Prior to working for ESPN, Weinstein was a sports radio personality in Washington, D.C. Weinstein worked for Triple X ESPN Radio, which broadcasts in Washington, D.C. on 94.3 FM, 92.7 FM and 730 AM...
(currently at ESPNEWSESPNEWSESPNEWS , launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel...
) - Rob Weingarten (currently at KFNS (AM) in St. Louis)
- Warner WolfWarner WolfWarner William Wolf is an American television and radio sports broadcaster, perhaps best known as a local news sports anchor in Washington, D.C., New York City and his catchphrase "Let's go to the videotape!"....
(currently at WABCWABC (AM)WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) - Phil Wood (WRC Sports and WTEM - currently at WJZ in BaltimoreBaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
)
Station profiles
| Callsign | Frequency Frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency... |
City of license City of license A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.... |
Power Electric power Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations... /ERP Effective radiated power In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains... |
Class | HAAT | Facility ID Facility ID The facility ID number or FIN is a unique positive integer assigned by the United States Federal Communications Commission to each domestic and international broadcast station in its Common Database System . Licensees are required to provide the relevant station's FIN when filing reports and... |
Transmitter coordinates | Former Callsigns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WTEM | 980 (kHz) | Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution.... |
50,000 watt Watt The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:... s day 5,000 watt Watt The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:... s night |
B | 25105 | 38°57′43.00"N 76°58′24.00"W | WWRC WRC |
|
| WWXT | 92.7 (MHz) | Prince Frederick, Maryland Prince Frederick, Maryland Prince Frederick is a census-designated place in Calvert County, Maryland, United States, not to be confused with the incorporated, and much larger, city of Frederick some to the northwest in Frederick County... |
2,850 watts | A | 145 meters | 43277 | 38°40′26.00"N 76°35′40.99"W | WBZS WMJS WESM |
| WWXX | 94.3 (MHz) | Buckland, Virginia Buckland, Virginia Buckland is an unincorporated village in Prince William County, Virginia. Established in 1798, Buckland was an early inland stagecoach town, situated along the Fauquier and Alexandria Turnpike... |
2,000 watts | A | 175 meters | 16819 | 38°44′30.98"N 77°50′7.01"W | WBPS WPLC-FM WPLC WTOP WTOP-FM WTOP is an all-news formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Washington, D.C., serving Metropolitan Washington, DC area. WTOP is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting.WTOP is one of two all-news stations in the Washington, D.C... WINX-FM WQRA |